Greece reports killing of two children due to quake

ANKARA, Oct 30 (KUNA) -- Greeceآ’s authorities on Friday said that two children were killed due to a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in the Aegean Sea, 16 kms northwest of Greek Samos Island.
The two children were killed when a wall fell down while they were walking along after returning from school, Greece News Agency said, adding that firefighter recovered their bodies from debris.
The national geology institute in Athens announced earlier in the day that a quake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale hit an area in the Aegean Sea, 16 northwest of Samos Island, and people felt it.
Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, expressed condolences over the casualties caused by the earthquake that hit the Turkish city of Izmir.
The call was conducted, despite the ongoing tension between the two countries.
Greece news agency quoted Mitsotakis as tweeting that he has just phoned Erdogan to offer condolences over the disastrous losses of the lives due to the quake that hit the two countries.
He added that whatever the differences are, the two nations need to stand with each other.
Furthermore, Erdogan offered condolences over the victims and wished for no further casualties, stressing that this disaster recalls again how the two countries are closer to each other, despite the political differences.
Phoning his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias also expressed his country's readiness to immediately send a relief team to Turkey to help rescue those trapped under the rubble.
The Turkish disaster and emergency management department declared earlier in the day that the city of Izmir overlooking the Aegean Sea has been hit by an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale that led to the killing of 12 people and injuring of 438 others as well as the destruction of several buildings. (end) rs.hm